FOX 35 INVESTIGATES: Why wasn't man who attacked OPD officers behind bars?

ORLANDO, Fla. - William McClish is no stranger to the Orange County Jail. Records show he’s been arrested nearly 50 times in the past eight years. 

He was never sent to state prison, but rather, he cycled in and out of the jails system until September.

That’s when Orlando Police say McClish ambushed two officers with a brick and streamed the attack live on Facebook. The police union says he broke one officer’s nose, bit, and nearly gouged out the other officer’s eye. 

Security guard Karla Rodriguez feels McClish should never have been on the street. 

"He got me on the floor and repeatedly started punching me. He pulled my hair," Rodriguez recalled of her attack during an interview with FOX 35 in September.  

She says about a year ago, McClish became aggressive with her after she asked him to stop loitering at the business where she worked. She says she pepper-sprayed him and he attacked.

FOX 35 EXCLUSIVE: Security officers say recent attack on OPD officers with brick could have been prevented

Scott Ulmer jumped in to help her. 

"I was scared for her life… he was way bigger than her," Ulmer said.  

McClish was arrested but wasn’t behind bars for long. 

"I was like, ‘They let him out of jail?’! I thought it was crazy because that was such a vicious attack," Ulmer said. 

"If this is not the longest criminal history I’ve ever seen during my career, it’s at least in the top two," said criminal defense attorney Bob Fisher. 

Fisher is not involved in any of McClish’s cases. We asked him to help us understand McClish’s criminal history. 

"Quite a few of the arrests that were made on this gentleman resulted in either formal charges not being filed by the government, being filed and dropped, it appears almost all of them at worst were negotiated," Fisher explained. 

FOX 35 combed through his rap sheet.  

In the last three years, and before the attack on the Orlando officers, court records show McClish was arrested on charges ranging from drug possession and trespassing to robbery and resisting an officer with violence. 

In all, there were eight felonies and five misdemeanors. In each case, he never went to trial. He was convicted of two felonies and five misdemeanors in plea agreements. 

The sentence for both felonies added up to 115 days in jail. McClish was sentenced to 81 days in jail on a misdemeanor charge for attacking Rodriguez, which he served while his case was pending. 

"They never contacted me or anything, asked me to come in for another statement or to testify for what he did," Ulmer said. 

We reached out to former state attorney Aramis Ayala, who’s now running for congress. She was Orange County’s top prosecutor for several of McClish’s cases, including the security guard beating. She sent us a statement saying in part: "The McClish case underscores the many shortcomings of our justice system and the deeply distressing public safety challenges when there is insufficient evidence for prosecution." 

Current State Attorney Monique Worrell told us: "Our office has a standing policy to not discuss active and ongoing cases. This includes scenarios that mirror current cases before the court." 

Worrell’s team is working with researchers from Florida International University to better understand how to address repeat offenders. 

"Recidivism is definitely a concern many offices want to learn more about," said Melba Pearson, the director of policy, programs at FIU’s Center for the Administration of Justice. 

Pearson is part of the Prosecutorial Performance Indicators' Project. The group will be combing through data from the 9th circuit.

"Looking at patterns of escalation, in other words - seeing how many people brought into the system as defendants, do they end up increasing in criminal activity," Pearson said. 

The project is expected to take a couple of years. 

Meantime, McClish may not be back on the streets this time. 

He faces a life sentence for his attack on the Orlando Police officers. 

Records indicate McClish was homeless and it’s unclear if he was ever offered participation in a diversion program. 

We reached out to his current public defender for comment on this report and didn’t hear back. 

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